The Taste of Poison
by Kami-SamanoShukusen
Summary: It was something that he wished to forget, yet he didn't. It made no sense - he thought of her even when he existed solely for another.
1. Sky Blue

Jack Vessalius isn't stupid.

He just prefers to ignore most things concerning Lacie.

He loves her too much.

So when he hears a girl, with hair as dark and as long as hers, tell Oswald that her sister never was considerate, he loses it.

He sees red.

Upon hearing his enraged shout, the girl merely turns to him, eyes cool, and he knows that's where the difference starts. Her eyes are a clear, light blue, with rings of azure in between; like the sky on a summer day. Her skin is almost white, and her lashes are long and thick and dark, and her lips are pink. She is dressed in a heavy black cloak, and underneath he can see the skirt of her gown. It's a fading blood red, and the hem is maroon. Her neck is adorned with delicate black lace, and she is smiling in amusement.

She is amused by his fury.

It takes a few moments for Jack to comprehend this. People—aristocrats—do not show their amusement, especially when it is because of one's fury. But she might not be a noble, though even then common people fear a nobleman's wrath.

Oswald watches, tense. He is aware of what damage this girl can do.

The girl makes her way over to Jack, and places a slender hand on his cheek. She raises herself on her tiptoes, and lets her lips rest by his ear. The blonde has long frozen at the proximity, and his thoughts have become hazy and jumbled. She smells of camellias, a light, delicate scent, not like Lacie's roses or Miranda's heavy perfume. It is different.

The girl smiles wickedly, and whispers in the blonde's ear.

"Do not forget your duty, for you will be rewarded."


	2. Rebirth

Renée.

That is her name—rebirth.

She is the phoenix.

Oswald watches him carefully afterwards. He puts a hand on his shoulder and shakes his head in remorse.

"She is not Lacie, Jack," he reminds gently. "It is rebirth, not resurrection."

Yes; of course he knows. He wants to pretend ignorance.

But this time, he can't.

They are too different.

Lacie is more desirable, whilst she is a passing fancy.

However, he thinks he might be lying to himself now.

Camellias replace the roses on his bedside table.


	3. Wine

The second time he sees her, she is waiting for him with a smile and poisoned wine.

He literally chokes on it, the poison burning his tongue. She has warned him, but not before he has almost consumed it. He turns to her, red with anger, and demands to know why she has given him poisoned wine to drink. She looks surprised for a moment, as if she expected him to know the answer.

It is baffling.

"I thought," she says, her eyes never leaving his, "that you wanted more poison, since your whole being is full of it."

He stares at her, uncomprehending. Poison.

She just told him that he is poisoned.

"Why did you warn me then?" he asks her. Inwardly, he cringes; his voice sounds just a little bit lost.

Renée holds his gaze.

"I didn't want to poison your mind either."


	4. Similarity

Jack sees her frequently now.

She is a marchioness, and she has become an iconic figure in society. Although she is not as prominent as Glen Baskerville, she has power.

She likes taking walks with him in the woods, and she often drags him for picnics by the lake. She tells him a lot of things, like how pretty she thinks his hair is, and how his earrings suits him, or how she wishes she can live somewhere where she can go out and watch the stars every night without worrying over something.

But even if she seems to be chattering mindlessly, she knows when he is not paying attention, and is not afraid to tell him that it upsets her; she often gives him a hard slap.

He is reminded of the time when Lacie almost cut his ear because she disagreed with him.

Renée and Lacie are similar like that.


	5. Again

During one of their walks, she asks him to meet her a week later by the lake.

Jack freezes, because it seems so very familiar.

Lacie told him to meet her a week after the ceremony.

"Why?" he demands, suddenly angry. She seems surprised, and laughs a little. She smiles at him.

"Don't be angry, Jack. My father has asked me to stay at home for a while."

"But you will come back?"

There is silence.

They are both surprised by his outburst. Jack has never thought that he would become attached to this girl.

Since she is not Lacie, and will never be.

She smiles. "Yes."

Before he could do anything else, Jack turns away and starts to head back.

"I'll meet you by the lake."


	6. Lake

The next day, Jack is sitting by the lake.

He knows that he is not obliged to come today. But he is here before he could understand why he is going.

He watches the water ripple, watches the grass sway. He watches the clouds.

For the rest of the week, he comes to sit by the lake.


	7. Forget Me Not

It is a week from that day.

And she is not here yet.

Jack feels betrayed. Did she lie to him?

Did she lie like Lacie?

But his thoughts are halted by her voice.

She is laughing, wearing her black cloak and a thin blue dress underneath. Her feet are bare, and her cheeks are flushed.

"Why are you laughing?" he asks her, relieved and amused. She stops and throws her arms around him. Jacks freezes up.

He wants to hold her.

But before he can respond, she pulls away, and puts something in his hand.

"Here," she says, with something more than mirth in her voice. "It's my farewell gift."

She gave him a forget-me-not.

Jack looks to her questioningly, but she is falling, and her eyes are closing.

She smiles weakly.

"Don't forget me, Jack."


	8. Camellia

She is gone.

She has left him, just like that.

It's unfair, Jack thinks, when he sees her lying in her casket. It is made of glass and diamond and crystal, and she looks so beautiful in her white dress as she lies there, her eyes closed.

She is surrounded by her beloved camellias, but she isn't sitting up to breathe in their scent.

It's when the reality hits him, that she is gone and she will never come back, that she will never laugh or smile or dance or twirl for him again—

He screams, and he cries, and he yells. Oswald holds him back—he was her friend too—holds him and supports him as he falls. The other nobles look at him sadly, because they have seen them together, and it must be painful.

It is.

And it always will be.

Because he will never—can never—forget her.


	9. Ghost

He laughs when he sees the forget-me-nots, because he still dreams of her, even when he thinks and lives for Lacie.

"What's so funny?" Glen—the new Glen—asks. Jack turns to him.

"You know, Lacie wasn't the only one I loved," he tells the boy. He looks baffled.

"What?"

Jack picks one, and holds it in the palm of his hand. It is the same color as the dress she was wearing that day, he thinks, and smiles fondly at the memory.

"Lacie wasn't the only one who crushed my heart."

"Is that so?" Glen says. He is using this as a distraction. Maybe he should indulge a little.

"I will never forget her," Jack exclaims, letting go of the flower. It dances and twirls in the wind, a blur of color—like the way her skirts look like when she dances and spins. He turns to Glen, his neck inches away from Oz's scythe. "You know why?"

He smiles a little, in regret. "Why?" Jack smiles.

"Because she poisoned my heart."


End file.
